How to Install Certificates on F5 Big IP Controller

Installing certificates for SSL Accelerator

After you obtain an x509 certificate from a certificate authority for an SSL Accelerator, you must copy it onto each BIG-IP Controller in the redundant configuration. You can configure the accelerator with certificates using the Configuration utility or from the command line.

To install certificates using the Configuration utility

In the navigation pane, click Proxies. The Proxies screen opens. On Proxies screen, click the Install SSL Certificate Request tab. The Install SSL Certificate screen opens. In the Certfile Name box, type the fully qualified domain name of the server with the file extension .crt. If you generated a temporary certificate when you submitted a request to the certificate authority, you can select the name of a certificate from the drop down list. This allows you to overwrite the temporary certificate with a certificate from the certification authority. Paste the text of the certificate into the install SSL Certificate window. Make sure you include the BEGIN CERTIFICATE line and the END CERTIFICATE line. Click the Write Certificate File button to install the certificate.

To install certificates from the certificate authority using the command line

Copy the certificate into the following directory on each BIG-IP Controller in a redundant system:

/config/bigconfig/ssl.crt/

Note:Your certificate should overwrite the temporary one generated by genkey or gencert.

If you used the genkey or gencert utilities to generate the request file, a copy of the corresponding key should already be in the following directory on the BIG-IP Controller:

/config/bigconfig/ssl.key/

To install the intermediate certificate using the command line

Copy the intermediate CA certificate into each BIG-IP Controller in a redundant system. Open the intermediate CA certificate sent to you in the zip file attached to your email with a text editor.Cut and paste the entire text of the certificate, including the -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- and -----END CERTIFICATE----- lines, into a file named intermediate-ca.crt. Be careful not to include any leading or trailing whitespace before the beginning and ending hyphens. Place the intermediate-ca.crt file in the directory /config/bigconfig/ssl.crt/

Note:The ssl.crt directory is used to store certificates from certification authorities.

WARNING:In a redundant system, the keys and certificates must be in place on both controllers before you configure the SSL Accelerator. You must do this manually; the configuration synchronization utilities do not perform this function.